Musical preservation group teaches conjunto's two iconic instruments: the button accordion and the bajo sexto.

By Elaine Ayala :
December 9, 2009

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WHAT: Conjunto Heritage Taller

WHERE: 725 S. Presa St.

INFO: (210) 212-8560

NEEDS: Donations to support the Valerio Longoria Scholarship Fund for students who can't afford music lessons; donations to develop a Web site, purchase additional student accordions and bajo sextos, and underwrite a 12-week residency program at a senior citizen center next year.

Ten-year-old Rito Peña might not be able to pronounce the names of his two favorite conjunto songs - "Un Piquito de Oro" and "Los Naranjales" - but he can do them justice on a button accordion.

That the fifth-grader at Robert Green Elementary can play the confounding squeezebox at age 10 is due largely to his dogged interest and initiative.

Others would give equal credit to his teacher, the legendary Bene Medina, and the Conjunto Heritage Taller, a San Antonio nonprofit dedicated to the preservation of the South Texas musical genre.

The agency is one of many area nonprofits the San Antonio Express-News is profiling in its annual Grace of Giving at series, which runs daily until Christmas.

Through classes and programming, thetaller (Spanish for workshop) has built a following by performing and teaching the genre's two iconic instruments, the accordion and bajo sexto - a 12-string bass guitar. Its academy includes students from ages 9 to 90, creating an inter-generational synergy melded by a love of the conjunto sound.

Founded eight years ago by aficionados Carol Rodriguez, Rodolfo "Rudy" Lopez and Fernando Villegas in Villegas' garage, the organization has an annual budget of $65,000. It seeks an increase of $35,000 a year for instructors and additional instruments. A beginner's accordion can cost $350 to $400; a bajo sexto, from $375 to $400.

Hundreds of students have come through its doors on South Presa Street in the Lavaca historic neighborhood, and this year several of them marked a milestone by opening for accordion great Flaco Jimenez at one of his gigs.

Lessons also motivate young students academically, said Juan Gutierrez, the organization's managing director. For older students, many of them senior citizens, the music is a reason to get up in the morning.

"The effect it has on the kids is immeasurable," Gutierrez said. Children once considered shy have been able to perform in front of large audiences.

Gutierrez credits "the best instructors in button accordion in San Antonio," Medina and Lorenzo Martinez. "Between the two guys, you got about 150 years of playing accordion."

But there's more than music instruction involved, he said. "It helps kids' self-esteem and self-confidence to the point where they're going to be good community people who are able to express themselves."

The taller's focus on preservation - not only of the music itself, but of its history - parallels the history of South Texas. "If you documented every single conjunto song (written in San Antonio), you could document the history of San Antonio," he said, noting songs about Henry Cisneros' mayoral election and the 1974 prison break led by Fred Gomez Carrasco.

Still, some might look down on the genre, but Gutierrez said thetaller is undeterred. "It's changing, and it has been changing for many years."

Not only are non-Latinos taking lessons, but people who once might have been snobs are now fans. "Our audience is growing every day," Gutierrez said.

Thetaller has lots of plans. Next year it hopes to collaborate with the SOLI Chamber Ensemble. Through a melding of classical and conjunto, Gutierrez said, "We'll be able to see that we have more similarities than differences."